1. Technical Field
The invention relates to an endless belt and a method of producing the same, an intermediate transfer belt, and an image forming apparatus.
2. Related Art
In an electrophotography apparatus (image forming apparatus), first, charges are formed on a photoreceptor using an electrically conductive material, modulated image signals are converted to an electrostatic latent image by laser beam and the like, then, the electrostatic latent image is developed with charged toner to give a toner image. Then, this toner image is transferred onto a recording medium directly or via an intermediate transfer body, obtaining an image.
In an image forming apparatus adopting a method of primarily transferring a toner image on a photoreceptor onto an intermediate transfer body, then, secondarily transferring the toner image on the intermediate transfer body onto a recording medium such as paper and the like, what is called an intermediate transfer mode, an intermediate transfer belt is used as the intermediate transfer body.
For the purpose of imparting conductivity to a polyimide material, carbon black particles having conductivity are dispersed in a polyimide resin. It is well known that variation in resistance of a polyimide endless belt owing to voltage may be suppressed by enhancing dispersibility of carbon black.
When such a polyimide endless belt containing a dispersed conductive material is used as the intermediate transfer body, a high resistant layer is provided, as an effective means, on a belt-shaped intermediate surface layer for conducting multicolor printing of high image quality.